Please rate the Archmage
- Thread starter Merlion
- Start date
I gave it an Excellent.
it is extremely powerful, and not totally unbalanced in that you sacrifice spell slots.
That said however, I didn't give it a perfect simply because it is an extremely powerful prc- there is little to give the player pause in taking it... the only pause is the first 13 levels of the character. There is little reason to not take it if you are a generalist mage with high intelligence (giving you enough slots to discard 5 in exchange for High Arcana).
it is extremely powerful, and not totally unbalanced in that you sacrifice spell slots.
That said however, I didn't give it a perfect simply because it is an extremely powerful prc- there is little to give the player pause in taking it... the only pause is the first 13 levels of the character. There is little reason to not take it if you are a generalist mage with high intelligence (giving you enough slots to discard 5 in exchange for High Arcana).
Wow, the Archmage is and FR PrC but . . . hot diggidy!!
PrCs don't get more powerful or broken than this. Spell Power may have been one of the most ill-thought out concepts in 3rd edition. Bonuses to your spell DCs AND spell resistance checks AND they stack with each other?
The other abilities to select from are pretty wild too:
1. Mastery of Shaping
* Sick of not using cool spells (Sunburst, Reality Maelstrom) b/c the area is just too darn big? Then MoS is up your alley! Also you can toss destructive spells even while the party tanks are in melee!
2. Master of Elements
* Wow!! You get the equivalent of 5 feats AND spontaneous casting AND without increased casting time for one lousy 8th level spell slot? It doesn't get better than this!
3. Arcane Fire
* Just in case you took Spell Power +1, +2, AND +3 but you still can't bust that Solar's SR . . . Arcane Fire is your thing. First it ignores SR and since it falls into that ambiguous category of unamed damage, nothing can stop it!
You get all this AND full spellcasting progression?
Who wouldn't want this class?
<edit>
I'm just curious why a couple of posters gave the Archmage a "bad" rating? Did they get the 3.5 edition of the FRCS already?
PrCs don't get more powerful or broken than this. Spell Power may have been one of the most ill-thought out concepts in 3rd edition. Bonuses to your spell DCs AND spell resistance checks AND they stack with each other?
The other abilities to select from are pretty wild too:
1. Mastery of Shaping
* Sick of not using cool spells (Sunburst, Reality Maelstrom) b/c the area is just too darn big? Then MoS is up your alley! Also you can toss destructive spells even while the party tanks are in melee!
2. Master of Elements
* Wow!! You get the equivalent of 5 feats AND spontaneous casting AND without increased casting time for one lousy 8th level spell slot? It doesn't get better than this!
3. Arcane Fire
* Just in case you took Spell Power +1, +2, AND +3 but you still can't bust that Solar's SR . . . Arcane Fire is your thing. First it ignores SR and since it falls into that ambiguous category of unamed damage, nothing can stop it!
You get all this AND full spellcasting progression?
Who wouldn't want this class?
<edit>
I'm just curious why a couple of posters gave the Archmage a "bad" rating? Did they get the 3.5 edition of the FRCS already?
Last edited:
Mortaneus
First Post
The class is crazy powerful. Those 5 levels of archmage can nearly triple the effectiveness of a character compared to if they had just stayed as sorc/wizard.
Mastery of Elements, Mastery of Shaping, and Spell Power +6 can turn a wizard into an unstoppable juggernaut of destruction. I ran a party of 18th level characters through the Bastion of Broken Souls. Everyone had a tough time, except the wiz13/archmage5. When his initiative came up, practically everything they were fighting took 48d6 of acid damage (2xMet Swarm - I don't allow sonic, and they were fighting fiends). None of the party did, of course, despite the fact that the fight was raging around them (mastery of shaping).
On top of that, the DC for the saves was a 41 (32 int, SF/GSF, SP+6), and he was getting +28 to punch through SR (SP/GSP/SP+6). Everything took horrifying amounts of damage, except the party.
The thing about the archmage is that it not only is capable of super-powering spell DCs and SR penetration, but Mastery of Shaping and Mastery of Elements remove all tactical restrictions from a boomer mage. Once a boomer has the two of those, there's nothing really hampering them from cutting loose with giant area effects every round.
Sure, it costs spell slots. Once you hit high enough level, the bonus spells you get from your casting stat counteract this, and the benefits you get WAY outweigh any possible cost.
Mastery of Elements, Mastery of Shaping, and Spell Power +6 can turn a wizard into an unstoppable juggernaut of destruction. I ran a party of 18th level characters through the Bastion of Broken Souls. Everyone had a tough time, except the wiz13/archmage5. When his initiative came up, practically everything they were fighting took 48d6 of acid damage (2xMet Swarm - I don't allow sonic, and they were fighting fiends). None of the party did, of course, despite the fact that the fight was raging around them (mastery of shaping).
On top of that, the DC for the saves was a 41 (32 int, SF/GSF, SP+6), and he was getting +28 to punch through SR (SP/GSP/SP+6). Everything took horrifying amounts of damage, except the party.
The thing about the archmage is that it not only is capable of super-powering spell DCs and SR penetration, but Mastery of Shaping and Mastery of Elements remove all tactical restrictions from a boomer mage. Once a boomer has the two of those, there's nothing really hampering them from cutting loose with giant area effects every round.
Sure, it costs spell slots. Once you hit high enough level, the bonus spells you get from your casting stat counteract this, and the benefits you get WAY outweigh any possible cost.
Numion
First Post
Mortaneus said:
Hey, me too! I also saw the brokenness of this class in the Bastion of Broken Souls. My player though specialized in disintegrates and wails (of the banshees).
It's great to know I wasn't alone in this regard. I banned the class from here to eternity.. talk about the Ban of the Broken
Similar Threads
